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DFI CFX3200-DR: ATI RD580 Tweak Attack

@ 2006/05/08

For these reasons the DFI partnership with ATI in developing and marketing motherboards based on the new ATI chipsets is particularly interesting. ATI realized early on that if DFI delivered a top performing enthusiast board based on an ATI chipset it could garner instant acceptance of ATI chipsets by the toughest nut of all to crack - the AMD enthusiast. DFI's first effort, the DFI RDX200, was hampered by the complaints that DFI used the less-featured ATI SB450 Southbridge instead of the ULi M1575. As CrossFire finally began shipping there were also early issues with getting certain varieties of CrossFire to work on the RD480-based DFI board. Finally, ATI graphics cards and CrossFire were not fully competitive with NVIDIA SLI when Rx480 launched. RDX200 was an excellent first effort, but it did not deliver enough stand-out features and performance to move the hard-core AMD enthusiast from NVIDIA chipsets.

Comment from FireTech @ 2006/05/09

True.
Maybe that's why Foxconn aren't touching Crossfire....
The unfortunate thing is that even ASUS couldn't get their Crossfire boards working right (even now with 0404 BIOs it seems)

Comment from jmke @ 2006/05/09

if DFI had (or has?) a large OEM market, like MSI/ASUS they could use those extra resources to pour even more manpower into their enthusiasts board without them having to worry if their new board will sell to break even.

if they can bring out a Ford GT for the enthusiasts and a DI for the masses they'll have a nice balance

Comment from FireTech @ 2006/05/09

Quote:

Originally posted by jmke
the target audience of these boards is very small, the amount of the HW enthusiasts is peanuts compared to the OEM market.

I see your point jmke but all an OEM board has to do is switch on every time, run as supplied and do what it was designed to.
The specialist board requires to be primarily stable at stock settings but tweakable too.
Manufacturers know that and should therefore ensure the former while putting suitable resources & research into achievng the latter before launching.
After all specialist boards are costing a whole lot more than an OEM board. I've been following the progress of the many Crossfire boards in various forums and they aren't even consistently working straight out of the box! Why would I spend AU$250+ on a board (not including the extra cost of the other essential 'ATI Certified' ancilliary components) knowing that it may not even switch on and run properly?
It's all fine having a sportscar that is a bit temperamental when tuned to the max but if it won't even run properly when driven straight off the dealers forecourt in stock trim....

Comment from Rutar @ 2006/05/08

still, it's a prestige thing as well

Comment from jmke @ 2006/05/08

the target audience of these boards is very small, the amount of the HW enthusiasts is peanuts compared to the OEM market.

Comment from FireTech @ 2006/05/08

Not exactly a glowing report re: the BIOS but I think all the RD580 boards are falling down with that one. The best of a mixed bunch really..

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